The School year has begun=)

Wow, was it just me, or was this summer the longest?  School FINALLY started this morning, and what a blessing it truly was.  I was dreading the alarm clock this morning at 0630 to be honest, as I am NOT a morning person till like after at least 2 cups of coffee.  I swore that the kids were both going to give me a hard time... But, they were up and out of bed with no issues.  Can we say EXCITED???  Mason complained all month about school starting soon and how much he was hating the idea of going back; he even begged me to homeschool him.  Lol.  Yet, a few nights before, he already had his outfit picked out..  Isn't it funny how even though they complain about school, you know they are looking forward to seeing their friends and actually having some schedule to go along with.  Madison always loves school and unfortunately she has begun the school year with Swimmer's Ear..  Ugh, if it's not one thing, it's another.  I felt reluctant to keep her home, being the first day of her Third grade year, so she got a dose of Motrin and some ear drops, and she was good to go.  However, after school, we headed for the clinic to have a professional look at it, and sure enough, she has Swimmer's ear again..  I think she is done swimming for sure now.  I distinctively remember getting the same thing as a kid, after the numerous times I swam in my parents pool in Arizona.  So, the kids may not look much like me, but they sure get all my problems...  Wow, isn't that special? 

A few weeks ago, I was invited to a "Pinup Photo Party", where several military wives got dressed up, made up, and had some pretty neat photos done.  I was at first, not going to do it because I felt embarrassed for some reason.  I actually had to get dolled up and all that.  Ha, for everyone who truly knows me, that is just not something I do on a regular basis.  But, I did go through with it, and I felt so beautiful.  Inside and out..  I posted a few pics on Facebook and had so many wonderful comments. I think I found something I would love to be a part of when I get to Fort Bragg.  I have begun a fantasy of mine, with becoming a more serious photographer, and I think when our husband's deploy (@Bragg), I want to shoot pinups for the wives and make calendars for them =).  I am contemplating the idea, it's not in the works.  It is just something I am interested in as a hobby.     

I also think Tim and I are finally getting the 'itch' to leave Korea.  We are so excited to be headed back to North Carolina come summer of 2012.  We have even began to look into whether we want to purchase a home, and call it quits with moving anymore; like RETIRING time...  That is so exciting to think of, yet kind of scary as well.  Especially in today's society with the economic issues and all.  At least, being in the military, you have security with a paycheck, medical bills, and always a home..  Even though, it might not be a "forever" home, it's still a roof over our heads.  So, this has been something we are looking into.  We still have plenty of time though to play around with that idea, so we will be sure to keep everyone updated.  

Other then the excitement of the school year kicking off and then the countdown to leave Korea being under a year FINALLY, we are all doing good.  The weather is finally clearing up and cooling off, so the Fall is slowly creeping in on us. Can't wait for all the leaves to change colors and be able to be outside more often without melting..  The humidity here is a killer.  Ugh.  Well, I hope everyone enjoyed my update.  Love and miss you all~

Fun at the Beach!

One Saturday afternoon, we decided to take a drive up to the beach.  It was the first sunny day in a long time and we figured we may as well take advantage of it before it started pouring again..  Seems like that is all it has done this summer, is rain and RAIN some more.  Ugh.  By far this summer has been the worst yet.  First we had a month straight of rain, then a Tropical Storm.  So as you can imagine, there isn't a whole lot to do during weather like this.  On my previous blog update, we were able to go to an indoor amusement park, thanks to the lovely rain.  There was also an outdoor part to it, however, the pouring rain didn't want us to see it.  That was fine, it was fun indoors too.  But, back to my talk about the beach.  We drove to Daechon Beach, which is where the Mud Festival is held every year here.  It's an awesome city to visit and the beach is beautiful.  It's about an hour and some change from Osan Base, and for us, that's a pretty easy drive.  It's about the length the kids are able to deal with, as well as Tim and I, before wanting to jump out the windows from driving in a small area that long with each other.=)  Just kidding, it's a fairly easy trip and one we definitely like making.  ;)

The kids had a blast.  I took a ton of pics of them in the ocean, just because it's not that often where I can get them playing so nicely together.  Tim and I swam too.  Mason didn't want to come out, and Madison--well, she didn't have a good "sand in the bathing suit" experience.  Poor thing.  But we were able to get the sand out and survive.  Sandcastles, seashells, and sun burns, we were done after a few hours and on our way back to post.  Ah, it was fun while it lasted, but now we are back to our tiny airbase, and waiting on the day when school starts.  That is the day that I am looking forward to.  It's been a LONG summer.  Here are the pics from the trip.  Enjoy!